Hats off to players who have reached bridge milestones!

NEW JUNIOR MASTERS
   Karen Kersey, Kuttawa KY
   Diane Gearing, Harrisburg IL
   Jane Denny, Edwardsville IL
   Margaret Murray, Maryville IL
   Susan Williams, Edwardsville IL

NEW CLUB MASTERS
   Brian Farmer, Highland IL
   Diane Borowy Marin IL
   Kathy Kirksey, Maryville IL

NEW SECTIONAL MASTER: Michael Oshel, Harrisburg IL

NEW REGIONAL MASTER:  Terry Sharp, Mt. Vernon IL

NEW LIFE MASTERS
   Robert Holdeman, Pocahontas IL
   Cathy Hammersley, Simpson IL

NEW NABC MASTERS
   Marla Luehder, Belleville IL
   Louis Durbin, Paducah KY

NEW BRONZE LIFE MASTERS
   Candy Butz, Caseville IL
   Joyce Clark, Marion IL
   Janet Jones, Harrisburg IL
   Robert Holdeman, Pocahontas IL
   Cathy Hammersley, Simpson IL
   Jerry Cundiff, Caseyville IL

NEW SILVER LIFE MASTER:  Leonard Fowler

Board Meeting minutes -- June, 2022

Unit 223 held a board meeting on June 24, 2022 during the Edwardsville tournament. The meeting was called to order by President Pam Ames. Board members in attendance were Pam Ames, Jay Coleman, Bob Holdeman, Kadie Davis, Maxine Wynn, Tom Wynn, Janet Jone, and Joyce Clark. Paul Hartke was unable to attend. Treasurer Donna Swick was in attendance; Secretary, Joanne Volmer could not attend so Kadie Davis took the minutes for the meeting.

Minutes from the March 23, 2022, meeting were read by Kadie Davis. A motion was made by Jay Coleman and seconded by Tom Wynn to approve the minutes. The motion carried.
The treasurer’s report was submitted. A motion was made by Jay Coleman and seconded by Tom Wynn to approve the minutes. The motion carried.

New Business:  Bob Cundall has resigned from the Board. Many thanks to Bob for his years of service. Area 4 (Metro East) held an election to replace Bob on June 2, 2022. Bob Holdeman was elected to fill Bob’s seat.

Old Business:  The minutes from the October 5, 2019 meeting were read by Kadie Davis to remind Board members of the three motions that were made and approved to change the Bylaws. A motion was made by Jay Coleman to approve the Bylaw changes with a second by Maxine Wynn. The motion passed. Kadie Davis will e-mail new updated pages of the Bylaws to all Board members.

Youth Bridge Camp will be held as scheduled, but to date only 8 children have registered. In order to defray down payment charges, a 3-day adult camp will also take place during the week.

The Edwardsville Sectional is going very well. The table count has been around 17 tables each session with the Swiss event at 21 tables.

Unit 223 Non-Profit Status: Our status has expired with the State of Illinois. We were a non-profit charity. Joanne is working with the state to fulfill the requirements to reinstate our status. The last information from Joanne is that the state is wanting a financial report from 2021.

Next Meeting: The next board meeting will be on Saturday, September 24, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. at the Effingham Regional.  A motion to adjourn was made by Kadie Davis and seconded by Janet Jones.

Board Meeting minutes -- October 26, 2022

Members present were Pam Ames, Paul Hartke, Kadie Davis, Tom Wynn, Janet Jones, Donna Swick, Joyce Clark Joanne Vollmer, secretary, and Mary Shaw.

The minutes of the last meeting and the treasurer’s report were accepted.

Paul Hartke reported that the Effingham Crossroads Regional was not successful, with a total of 157 tables from Tuesday through Sunday. Wednesday and Thursday attendance was good, Friday, fair, but Saturday and Sunday were very bad. He recommends moving this tournament to Edwardsville, Collinsville or Fairview Heights if a suitable location can be found.

Kadie is submitting dates for the Pioneer Tournament for sanctions as follows: April 14-16, 2023; April 5-7, 2024; April 25-27, 2025; April 10-12, 2026 and April 2-4, 2027.

Pam has checked locations in the Metro-East area for the Crossroads Regional. Effingham did do better than other tournaments in the area – Crystal Lake, St. Louis and Champaign. The district waived the $1500 fee. Pam is continuing to negotiate. The tournament is set for September 18-24, 2023.

Our bridge tables our very old and have been through a flood. The board agreed to buy 30 new tables. Kadie moved that we buy 25-30 new tables and find a storage location in the Metro-East area. Joyce seconded the motion and the motion carried. Jay Coleman will be asked to dispose of the old tables.

Joanne Vollmer reported that the nonprofit status of our unit has been reinstated.

Mary Shaw reported that Bridge Camp was the smallest since 2009, with only 8 participants. The adult camp had 9. The grant request to the ACBL Education Foundation has been submitted for next year. The grant is used for registration fees, background checks of instructors and instructor fees. The goal is to have 30-40 campers.

The board would like to sincerely thank Janet Jones for her diligent work reporting news from our unit to the Newsletter. The newsletter has been canceled until March 2023.

The meeting was adjourned because of the time constraint.

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

EDWARDSVILLE SECTIONAL -- June 23-25 2022
   Total masterpoints of 506.86 were earned by 115 players. The total attendance: 104 tables. The Thursday AM Open Pairs had 12.5 tables and the 299er game had 4.5 tables. The Thursday afternoon Open Pairs had 12.5 tables and the 299er game had 4.5 tables. The Friday afternoon game had 13 tables and the 299er game had 3 tables. The Friday evening game had 12 tables. On Saturday the Open Swiss Teams had 21 tables. For a complete list of winners, check out results on the ACBL website.

EFFINGHAM CROSSROADS REGIONAL -- Tuesday, September 20 – Sunday, September 25.
   Total masterpoints of 868.62 were earned by 116 players. The total attendance was 158 tables. For a list of winners, check out results on the ACBL website.

FALL SECTIONAL -- Edwardsville Il, September 29-October 1, 2022.
   Total masterpoints of  247.49 were earned by 79 players. The total attendance was 72 tables. For a list of winners check out results on the ACBL website.

SALUKI SWISS -- Edwardsville, IL, February 17-18, 2023
   Total masterpoints earned were 271.80 by 83 players. The total attendance was 64 tables. A list of all events and point winners is here .

VIRTUAL BRIDGE HAPPENINGS

During the worst of the pandemic, Central Illinois and Southern Illinois/Paducah formed a consortium so that we could all continue to play bridge. Although not as many online games are  being offered as previously, it’s still a fun way to play bridge. Currently, the games being offered are:

Open Pair Games

   Thursdays:  6:50 pm

   Saturdays:  10:00 am

   Sundays:  6:50 pm  (Open -- 1st, 3rd & 5th Sundays; Mentor/Mentee Pairs: 2nd & 4th Sundays)

Limited Pair Games

   Tuesdays (0-750):  6:50 pm

   Thursdays (0-500):  6:30 pm

More mentors are needed for the Mentor/Mentee games. You don’t need to be a Life Master to help someone learn the game. You just need a love for the game and a willingness to share some of your wisdom.  If you haven’t done so, please consider being a mentor!

FACE-TO-FACE CLUBS

Make sure you take advantage of all the special games that you are able to schedule in your clubs. Extra points bring out extra players! You can go to the Special Events at Clubs calendar on the ACBL website to see what is being offered.

ACBL has given you 8 free weeks of Club Championships for 2023, in addition to the week of Club Championships that you are able to run quarterly. You are also welcome to run 2 free weeks of Upgraded Club Championships for 2023, in addition to any that your club may have earned through recruiting.  (And yes, if you have not used all of the 2022 weeks, you may roll them into 2023).

SAVE THE DATE

The ROYAL Sectional-Tournaments-at-Clubs (STaCs) for all District 8 are coming up! The upgraded points are: 25% Gold, 25% Red, 25% Silver and 25% Black.
The Royal STaC games are scheduled for the weeks of March 27 – April 2, 2023 and December 11 - 17, 2023.

REGULAR STaCs award upgraded points of 100% silver points.
The Regular STaCs are scheduled for the weeks of May 1-7, 2023 and October 23-29, 2023.

2022 Ace of Clubs & Mini-McKenney Winners for Unit 223